Scream Queens Star on Playing the Killer: "I Was Excited!"

Seeing red! Scream Queens' first season came to a shocking and bloody conclusion as the Red Devil's identity was revealed — with one final twist.

After countless gory deaths, red herrings, and one unspeakable lawn mower mishap, the Fox series' Season 1 finale aired Tuesday, Dec. 8, as Hester (Lea Michele) was shown to be the season's mastermind, having worked in tandem with Pete (Diego Boneta) and Gigi (Nasim Pedrad). Hester manages to pin everything on the three remaining Chanels, who get hauled off to an asylum, where they blissfully start a new sorority.

Michele, 29, tells Us Weekly that she had no idea Hester was the killer until she received the season’s final script. "I was excited!" she says of finally getting the big news.

"It was so funny because, throughout the whole season, everyone was like, 'Do you know?' And I was like, 'No!'" the actress says. "And we honestly didn't, and it wasn't until that final episode, and I was like, 'Oh, my god.'"

Michele, who says she was convinced that Wes (Oliver Hudson) would be the killer, was at a press event with series creator Ryan Murphy when she learned that Hester would be the culprit. Michele says Murphy was surprised that she didn't seem happier to get the news.

"I was like, 'I am happy . . . but I just want to make sure I get away with it!'" she explains. "And he was like, 'You do — it's fine.' So then I got excited about it."

The former Glee star says that she never found the violent scenes — including Hester using a high-heeled shoe to puncture her own eyeball in the finale — to be too gross to film . . . with one exception.

"I think the only thing that I found really gross was when I stuck my finger into that dead woman — blech, that was probably the worst," she says. "That, to me, that was the only time when I thought, 'This isn't really my scene.' But other than that, I'm really kind of fine with it."

Michele calls this "one of the most exciting years of my life," between Glee signing off in March after six seasons, her new series premiering in September, and her second album currently in the works. She says she is thankful that Scream Queens — which has yet to earn a second-season pickup — has developed "such an incredible fan base."

"I honestly couldn't feel more grateful," she says. "I just hope that we get the opportunity to come back and play around even more!"